Batmom

Part 4

The boys all followed the lead from Batmom and arrived in no time to the Manor. Each of them had questions that Mrs. Wayne promised to try and answer after they had taken a shower and eat something.

"It is good to see you back in action Madame." Alfred smiled when he received them back at the cave.

"Oh Al, I was hoping to never have to put on this suit, but well, I'm not letting any villain hurt my family again. Alfred, go and rest, I can take it from here. I think the boys would want to stay up a little longer." Batmom kissed Alfred's cheek and went to take a shower and change into pajamas to meet the needs of the boys.

She was certain that they would want to talk about the suit and Joker's fear and she had to be ready to answer their questions. She made some sandwiches and popcorn in the kitchen waiting for the eager boys.

They didn't disappoint. One by one, they entered to the kitchen and took the food offering. Then when everyone was full, they moved to the entertainment room as Tim suggested they watch a movie to shake off the night events.

Mrs. Wayne sat in the middle of the big couch and Jason hurried to sit by her right side. He was showing a smile she thought she hadn't seen in years. Not wanting to be left behind, Damian took the immediate side of Mrs. Wayne on her left, and Tim and Dick had to conform to the places next to their brothers. However, Mrs. Wayne made sure to be touching each of the four boys and hold them as close as she could.

"I know you have questions, so before you ask any of them, let me tell you a story." She started to talk as she unruffled the boy's hair.

"When I first met Bruce I thought he was one of those spoiled rich brats that thought they deserve the world to be at their feet, so I tried to avoid them as much as I could. However life has a funny way of bringing people together and some years after our first encounter, he took the first of you under his care." Mrs. Wayne touched Dick's cheek and he surrounded to the warmth of her. "We concurred again at a gala where he introduced his ward to me. In that moment I saw a man that worries about the world and wanted to make a difference, so I accepted to have a date with him. That date became two, three and soon, I was living in the manor." Dick nodded affirmatively. He remembered the day Mrs. Wayne moved in to live with them and how she took immediate care of the kid.

"Later on, Dick and Bruce had heavy disagreements and my boy left the Manor to live his life on his own. It hurt, but then Bruce came back one night with a though little guy that tried to steal the tires of the Batmobile." Jason snorted when he remembered the surprised expression from Mrs. Wayne the night he arrived to the Manor. "We had a tough time getting along, but I loved that boy to the core. That's why it hurt like hell when Bruce arrived hugging my boy's body. I saw my child injured and covered in blood and my heart broke in thousand pieces." Jason hugged his mother's body and buried his face on her shoulder. He really never asked her about her feelings on his death. "I buried my boy and truly, I felt empty. Not even seeing Dickie everyday made the heavy cloud on my heart go." A little tear escaped her eyes.

"Bruce wasn't in his best shape, losing Jay affected him much, but he wasn't willing to admit how deep he was hurt. One day Joker decided to attack the city again, and that night, Batman didn't want to confront him. I got mad at Bruce, Joker was laughing around and he was taking his time to go after him and make him pay..." she made a dramatic pause.

"...in an attempt to calm my heart, I took one of the first costumes your father made for his quest and went after Joker. I found him happily destroying an old factory. When he saw me enter he thought I was Bruce and started to sneer about his deed to Robin. I couldn't take it and attacked him forward beating him with the very crowbar he used." It was strange that the room was quiet with the four boys in, but they were engrossed in the story and dared not to interrupt their mother.

"When he saw that I wasn't containing, he noticed I was not the same Batman. I accused him to take away my child and he started to call me Batmom. But being named didn't stop me from attacking him."

"Did he defend himself?" Jason was of course, most curious about it all. Actually Batmom was certain that Tim must be asleep at this moment.

"He did. Joker hit me several times but I hit back harder. I guess that at some point Alfred told Bruce what I did, because he arrived to the place and tried to persuade me from my idea of killing Joker. You know how adamant he is to respect the no-killing-rule. Surprisingly, after he got my attention and Joker almost flew, Batman actually attacked Joker. Together we let out some of the steam accumulated between us and the world since the night Jay died. But in the end, the police took Joker and Bruce made me promise I would not do that again." Jason made a mental note to search for any record of the night.

Damian had been the most silent at until now. "You broke your promise tonight". He was trying to asses where this outing would let the relationship between the Waynes.

"No, I didn't... I mean I didn't fight the Joker as Batman and Batmom did that night; I didn't do it in search for vengeance nor my intention was to kill him. But I made my point clear... no one messes with my family." And Mrs. Wayne kissed each boy's head.

In silence, they started to pay attention to the movie playing on the TV, trying to process all the information they gathered that night.